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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150512">chain reaction</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterofperfectdisasters/pseuds/thewriterofperfectdisasters'>thewriterofperfectdisasters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, CEO!Damen, Light Angst, M/M, PA!Laurent, Slow Burn, Workplace AU, slightly spicy dynamics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:56:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150512</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriterofperfectdisasters/pseuds/thewriterofperfectdisasters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>'We have a perfectly fine working relationship,’ Damen said, sighing as he moved away and took his hands off Laurent’s hips. ‘And I don’t want to ruin it.’<br/>Laurent stepped back into Damen’s space, grabbing his shirt and pulling his head down. ‘Fucking <i>ruin</i> it.’</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince), blink and you'll miss it Damen/Jokaste</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>197</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Captive Prince Secret Santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>chain reaction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/itallends/gifts">itallends</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hello! this was written for itallends/<a href="http://goldencuffs.tumblr.com">goldencuffs</a> who, as part of the 2020 secret santa event, asked for spicy relationship dynamics, forbidden love, and workplace AU (among other things) and this is the monstrosity that i came up with. (brief note: i know you said no damen/others but i pinky promise it doesn't actually hit that, despite saying damen/jokaste - i'll chuck a spoiler in my end note if you want to make sure!!) happy holidays, and i hope you enjoy it 💖</p><p>note: yes, the geography mixes fiction and real life countries, but we're ignoring that :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> <em>From:</em> </strong> <em> Damianos Vasileos (d.vasi@twokings.ak)</em></p><p><strong> <em>To:</em> </strong> <em> Laurent de Vere (l.deve@twokings.ak)</em></p><p><strong> <em>Subject:</em> </strong> <em> Lunch??</em></p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Laurent,</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>I pride myself on being a merciful boss, but I asked you to get my lunch over an hour ago. I don’t pay you to sit on your phone for three hours while I starve.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Get it together.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Regards,</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Damianos.</p>
</blockquote><p> </p><p>Laurent glanced up from his computer and turned in his chair to stare incredulously through the glass to Damianos. He was lounging in his chair, leaned back with his feet kicked up on his desk – hardly starving. Asshole.</p><p><em>Beautiful asshole.</em> Laurent sighed and got up from his desk to go knock on Damianos’ door.</p><p>His boss nodded, continuing to chat on his phone. Or maybe argue was a better word.</p><p>‘I literally fucking told you we needed that script in by today. Do you ever read your damn emails or am I working with a bunch of fucking morons?’ Damianos hissed. He held his hand over the bottom of his phone. ‘What?’ he asked.</p><p>‘You didn’t send your lunch order through. If you did, it wasn’t to me,’ Laurent said politely. ‘What did you want?’</p><p>Damianos rolled his eyes. ‘My usual from the cafeteria will be fine.’</p><p>Laurent nodded. ‘Sure. Five minutes.’</p><p>‘Make it three.’</p><p>‘I don’t control how fast the elevators are, Damianos.’</p><p>‘Funny, I control whether you get paid or not.’</p><p>Laurent held back an annoyed sigh and smiled genially instead. ‘Of course. I’ll be right back,’ he said, resisting the urge to bow sarcastically as he left.</p><p>‘I dare you to take ten minutes to get his lunch,’ Lazar whispered, as Laurent walked past his desk.</p><p>Laurent paused and grabbed a familiar pen from the holder on Lazar’s desk. ‘When did you take my pen?’</p><p>‘That’s not your pen.’</p><p>‘It has my name on it.’</p><p>Lazar grinned. ‘That’s not the point. Anyway, take ten minutes to get his lunch.’</p><p>‘Why would I do that? He’ll fire me, he’s insane.’</p><p>‘He likes you,’ Lazar shrugged, glancing back to Damianos’ office. ‘Haven’t you noticed how he watches you?’</p><p>‘He watches me because he’s hoping that I’ll do something stupid and he’ll have a valid reason to fire me,’ Laurent said flatly. ‘Like taking ten minutes to get his lunch.’</p><p>‘Say the cafeteria was busy.’</p><p>‘No. If you want to fuck with him, do it in your own time.’</p><p>Lazar sighed, looking wistfully over to Damianos’ office again. ‘I would, but I think he might be straight.’</p><p>‘Exactly why he doesn’t like me.’</p><p>‘Dude, just because people are straight doesn’t mean they can’t admire a nice ass like yours.’</p><p>Laurent frowned. ‘Is that meant to be a compliment?’</p><p>‘Sure.’</p><p>Laurent sighed and looked towards Damianos’ office. He was now watching Laurent standing and talking to Lazar, and waved his hand meaningfully towards the elevator. ‘Shit,’ Laurent muttered. ‘I’m going to get fired.’</p><p>Lazar stood and waved back to Damianos. ‘Nah. But he does look hangry, so maybe you should go get that food.’</p><p>‘That’s literally what I was on my way to do.’</p><p>‘Not with a lot of enthusiasm though, huh?’</p><p>‘Shut up,’ Laurent said, turning on his heel and heading for the elevator. Almost as soon as he stepped inside, he received a text from Lazar – just a line of winking emojis mixed with the occasional thinking face. What the fuck did that mean?</p><p>Thankfully, the cafeteria was essentially empty, which meant Laurent could go get a panini, cookie, and a bottle of the stupid vitamin water his boss liked. He checked his phone as he waited for the panini to be made, ignoring the follow up text from Lazar of more winking emojis.</p><p>Laurent ignored him as he arrived back on the floor and didn’t bother knocking on Damianos’ door before he entered and deposited the food on his desk.</p><p>‘Anything else?’ Laurent asked. ‘I was busy.’</p><p>‘Yes,’ Damianos looked up at Laurent and flicked his eyes over his shirt. ‘I could see that.’</p><p>Laurent didn’t give him the benefit of looking over his clothing. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.</p><p>‘Your shirt is buttoned incorrectly,’ Damianos cracked open the panini container and moved the lid away. ‘Pay more attention to yourself. You represent this company, and by extension, you represent me.’</p><p>‘You put yourself above the company?’ Laurent asked before he could stop himself.</p><p>Damianos looked up sharply as he rolled his sleeves up a bit. ‘Yes. Because I own it.’</p><p>Laurent swallowed audibly and glanced down at his shirt. Fuck. It <em>was </em>buttoned wrong. ‘Right, I’ll be at my desk.’</p><p>‘Try to make sure Lazar stays at his own.’</p><p>‘Of course, sir. Anything else I can do for you?’</p><p>‘We’re staying late tonight. I need your assistance with a proposal that’s come up last minute.’</p><p>‘Tonight?’ Laurent repeated, as something came to mind. He had something on tonight. He had –</p><p>‘Yes, tonight. I assume you have no plans,’ Damianos grabbed the bamboo cutlery Laurent had brought back and gave a quiet <em>ugh </em>as the knife struggled to cut through his panini.</p><p>‘I, uh, actually I had a date tonight.’ Not anymore, though. Laurent didn’t know if he was happy about it or not. Auguste had set Laurent up with one of his friends, and while Laurent hadn’t exactly been thrilled about it, it would’ve been nice to exist somewhere other than his apartment or his desk.</p><p>‘A date?’ Damianos asked, giving up on the cutlery and taking the panini in hand instead. ‘Who’s the lucky girl? Kashel from seventh seems to like you.’</p><p>Laurent blushed a little, laughing nervously. ‘I’m actually gay.’</p><p>‘Oh,’ Damianos sounded interested as he took a bite of his food. ‘Someone from here?’</p><p>‘No, sir. My brother’s friend. It’s – uh, it’s fine. I’ll reschedule.’</p><p>Damianos nodded. ‘Correct.’</p><p>‘Right,’ Laurent muttered. ‘Anyway. I’ll leave you to it.’</p><p>He didn’t wait for Damianos to say anything, leaving his office and going back to sit heavily behind his desk. Fucking Damianos. He always pulled shit like this, letting Laurent know three hours before the end of the day that he’d probably be there until one in the morning and then barely have time to go home and nap before he had to be back in the office.</p><p>It was, however, the only time that Laurent felt like Damianos didn’t actively hate him. He was almost a different version of himself when it was just the two of them in the building, sorting files and project requirements and restraints. He wasn’t actually the asshole he played at during the day, he was actually pretty cool and fun to be around – softer, gentler. He definitely still had the vibe of a determined workaholic, but he wasn’t rude, and definitely didn’t swear as much.</p><p>Laurent wondered which version of his boss was the real one, because compared to the harsh, strict man he knew during business hours, it was like Damianos flipped a switch in his personality when they worked into the night. Laurent wondered if Damianos was a gemini, or whatever astrological sign that could be blamed on.</p><p>But Laurent liked the version of him that came out after hours. He almost didn’t mind cancelling his date for it.</p><p> </p><p><strong> <em>From: </em> </strong> <em>Laurent de Vere (l.deve@twokings.ak)</em></p><p><strong> <em>To:</em> </strong> <em> Jord (personal) (jordijordjord@akmail.com)</em></p><p><strong> <em>Subject:</em> </strong> <em> Date tonight</em></p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Jord,</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>I’m so sorry, something has come up at work and I need to stay here until late. Rain-check on the date? I hope you didn’t have anything super fancy organised, I feel bad enough about it as it is.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>Sorry again! Let me know if we can reschedule.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>L.</p>
</blockquote><p> </p><p>Laurent sighed as he hit send on the email. Auguste would be disappointed, he already knew that. He also knew this was the second time he’d had to reschedule with Jord, and there might not be any coming back from it.</p><p>But either way, Laurent had to stay. Funnily enough, he actually liked his job, but even if he didn’t, he needed to keep his job a while longer so… he didn’t really have much choice in the matter. As he turned back to the emails he had to deal with for work, Laurent’s mind wandered to dinner – time for another round of <em>what will Damianos pick from Uber eats?</em></p><p>Laurent was feeling today might be a carbs day. Probably pasta. Hopefully pasta.</p><p>***</p><p>It happened part way through his carbonara.</p><p>They never really worked while they ate – Damianos said something about it being bad for digestion or whatever – so they were just having a nice, casual conversation.</p><p>‘So your date,’ Damianos asked, stabbing a few tortellini. ‘How didn’t I know you were gay?’</p><p>Laurent looked up from his food and raised an eyebrow. ‘You never asked, and it never came up.’</p><p>‘Why not?’</p><p>‘Why would it?’</p><p>Damianos shrugged. ‘I feel like that’s an integral part of who you are as a person, right? Surely it would’ve come up by now.’</p><p>‘Usually you’re too busy yelling at me for proposals.’ It slipped out before Laurent could stop it and his eyes went wide as he realised the admission. ‘Oh shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.’</p><p>‘No, it’s okay,’ Damianos said softly. ‘I know I focus more on work than anything. I like to get things done efficiently and make sure everyone else is, too.’</p><p>‘I know, I don’t have a problem with working, it’s more just that it feels like I exist only as a drone in my capacity as your assistant.’</p><p>‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’</p><p>Laurent nodded. He didn’t really know what to say to that, so he settled on, ‘Sorry, I’m just tired. Literally, not… you know.’</p><p>‘Okay, well… tell me about this guy. The one you were meant to go out with tonight.’</p><p>‘His name’s Jord, he’s friend of my brother. He seems nice, though we’ve only met a couple of times at Auguste’s house, and this is the second time I’ve had to reschedule, so I don’t know if I’ll actually end up seeing him.’</p><p>‘Oh. Is that because I keep making you stay late?’</p><p>‘Yeah, it’s like your sixth sense. You keep disrupting my plans,’ Laurent joked.</p><p>Damianos didn’t laugh. ‘I didn’t realise.’</p><p>‘It’s okay, really. I don’t mind staying.’</p><p>‘Don’t you?’</p><p>‘I mean, I like getting more than four hours sleep, so it’s not my favourite thing, but deadlines are deadlines.’</p><p>‘Maybe next time I’ll just stay by myself. You deserve to have a life outside this place.’</p><p>Laurent raised his eyebrows. ‘Don’t you have a life outside here?’</p><p>‘Not much of one,’ Damianos admitted. ‘I don’t think my girlfriend is too pleased about it, either.’</p><p>‘You have a girlfriend?’</p><p>‘I…’ Damianos’ eyes drifted past Laurent’s shoulder and out past the windows of the conference room they were in. ‘I think we’re about to find out.’</p><p>Laurent turned to see a gorgeous, tall, blonde woman striding towards them. She looked like she was planning a murder from the way she was glaring at them, but opened the door surprisingly gently.</p><p>‘What the fuck,’ she said flatly, ‘is this.’</p><p>‘It’s work,’ Damianos said, resting his fork against the side of his container. ‘What does it look like?’</p><p>The woman flicked her eyes to Laurent. ‘Who are you? His slut?’</p><p>Laurent blinked in shock. ‘I’m his assistant.’</p><p>‘Wow,’ she turned back to Damianos. ‘That’s a cliché, even for you.’</p><p>‘We’re not involved, Jokaste,’ Damianos sighed. ‘He’s essential staff for this project. I told you I would be working late.’</p><p>‘We were supposed to have dinner with your parents, you <em>moron</em>,’ Jokaste hissed. ‘I had to cancel dinner with <em>your</em> <em>parents</em>.’</p><p>‘Was that tonight?’</p><p>‘Not anymore, <em>dumbass</em>,’ Jokaste shook her head. ‘But hey, if you’d rather be here “working on a project” with this idiot, then that’s up to you.’</p><p>‘He’s not an idiot,’ Damianos said, standing and heading towards her. ‘And seeing as I spend more time with him than you, I think I’m qualified to make that assessment.’</p><p>‘You spend no time with me because you’re always <em>here</em>.’</p><p>‘And when I’m not, you’re out with your friends, going shopping and getting drunk and making me pick you up at three in the morning.’</p><p>‘You never have time for me,’ Jokaste sniffed, crossing her arms. ‘I’ve told you before to prioritise, but I guess if you don’t want to do that, then we don’t have a future.’</p><p>Damianos walked to the door and opened it. ‘This <em>is </em>me prioritising, Jokaste.’</p><p>‘You have a trust fund.’</p><p>‘But I don’t want to live off it, even if you do.’ Damianos gestured a hand out the door. ‘So are you going to leave here as an understanding girlfriend, or are you leaving?’</p><p>Jokaste scoffed. ‘I’m leaving. I’ll come by on the weekend to pick up my things.’</p><p>‘No need, I’ll have everything packed and sent to Kastor’s apartment, shall I?’</p><p>Jokaste jerked back, a look of hurt on her face. ‘Kastor’s? Why?’</p><p>‘I assume that’s where you’ll be, or am I wrong and you haven’t been sleeping with my brother?’ Damianos asked. ‘You can wipe that look off your face, you’ve sent a few texts to the wrong number, I know you’re seeing him behind my back.’</p><p>Jokaste’s expression went back to the same cold anger she’d walked in with. ‘If you know, why have you kept me around?’</p><p>Damianos shrugged tiredly. ‘I don’t know, Jokaste. It was nice not coming home to an empty apartment every day.’</p><p>Jokaste rolled her eyes. ‘But you’re dumping me. We’re over.’</p><p>‘We were over the moment my brother stuck his cock in you.’</p><p>‘How do you know we’ve done that?’</p><p>‘You’re not very good at hiding things, like positive pregnancy tests.’</p><p>‘Maybe it’s yours.’</p><p>‘We haven’t fucked in over six weeks,’ Damianos said quietly. ‘It’s not mine.’</p><p>Jokaste ground her teeth together and shifted her weight to the other leg. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s not.’</p><p>‘So.’ Damianos took a breath and gestured out the door. ‘I’ll send your things to Kastor’s.’</p><p>Jokaste studied him briefly, then turned on her heel without a word, heading back the way she’d come without a second glance or moment of pause.</p><p>‘I’m sorry,’ Damianos said, coming back to sit at the table. ‘I try to keep my personal and professional lives separate, you didn’t need to see that.’</p><p>‘It’s, uh…’ Laurent cleared his throat. He’d definitely never wanted to be in a situation less than the one he was currently facing. ‘Are you okay, Damianos?’</p><p>A tired laugh. ‘You just watched me air my dirty laundry, you can call me Damen.’</p><p>‘Damen,’ Laurent repeated. ‘Are you? Okay?’</p><p>‘I’m fine,’ Damen poked at his food. ‘I’ve had a long time to come to terms with it.’</p><p>Laurent nodded. ‘Do you need anything?’</p><p>‘I probably should’ve got my key off her,’ Damen mused. ‘That’s about it.’</p><p>‘Okay, well… let me know.’</p><p>‘I will, thank you, Laurent.’</p><p>Laurent swirled his rapidly cooling fettucine around his fork, and considered it for a moment. ‘Can I ask you something?’</p><p>Damen was now eating again like nothing had happened, and nodded around the food in his mouth. ‘Mm?’</p><p>‘Why did she think you were cheating with <em>me</em>?’</p><p>‘She was probably projecting,’ Damen looked him over. ‘I recently came out to her, and it might’ve been that you have similar… characteristics.’</p><p>Laurent frowned. ‘I’m blond and you’re..?’</p><p>‘Bi.’</p><p>‘I’m blond and you’re bi, and she thinks those two things just naturally align?’</p><p>‘I think that she was cheating on me probably has something to do with it, too.’</p><p>Laurent nodded. ‘I understand if it’s too personal –’</p><p>‘We’re past things being “too personal”, Laurent.’</p><p>‘Ah,’ Laurent blushed. ‘I was just wondering if you’d only <em>just </em>come out.’</p><p>‘No, I’ve been out since high school, but I only told Jo a few months ago. It didn’t seem necessary, then we got <em>serious</em>, so I told her, and now… here we are,’ Damen shook his head. ‘It’s probably for the best.’</p><p>‘You have too much going for you to be single for too long,’ Laurent shoved the last of his fettucine in his mouth, humming as he chewed and swallowed. ‘Even if your major flaw as a person is that you spend too much time at work.’</p><p>‘You think so?’ Damen raised an eyebrow. ‘You spend the same amount of time here as I do, and you’ve had to postpone your date twice with someone you <em>know</em>. If I’m asking out someone new, they probably wouldn’t give me a second chance.’</p><p>‘I would.’ Once again – out of his mouth before he could stop it. Laurent sighed and ran his hands through his hair. ‘Sorry.’</p><p>‘For what? Saying you’d date me?’</p><p>‘Personal and professional lives separate, right?’</p><p>Damen hummed, running his eyes over Laurent and lingering on his face for a moment. ‘Right.’</p><p>***</p><p>Things kind of… changed after that. Laurent wondered exactly what it was that he’d said to make Damen completely drop his façade of being horrible, or maybe it was simply that after the altercation with his no-longer-girlfriend, Damen had decided there was no point trying to keep it up. He was <em>nice </em>to Laurent – during <em>regular hours</em>. He smiled more and asked for things politely and while he was still very much committed to his work and getting things done, he wasn’t as brusque as he had been.</p><p>It was fucking weird.</p><p>It peaked about a week after the incident. Damen stood at the edge of Laurent’s desk, dropping a pile of papers onto it like he usually did, and then hovered. Damen never hovered.</p><p>Laurent looked up from his screen. ‘Can I help you?’</p><p>‘Are you able to stay late tonight?’</p><p>He’d never asked that before. ‘Not exactly,’ Laurent said. ‘Do you need me to?’</p><p>‘Do you have plans or are you just scared something like last time will happen again.’</p><p>‘Well, yes, I definitely am scared of that, but I have a date tonight.’</p><p>‘Ah.’ Damen nodded, pushing his hands into his pockets. ‘Jord?’</p><p>‘Jord,’ Laurent agreed, a little surprised Damen remembered the name – he’d only mentioned it once, more in passing than anything. ‘He rescheduled the date.’</p><p>‘Okay, that’s fine. We can do it tomorrow, if that’s better suited.’</p><p>‘Oh. Yeah, that’s fine.’</p><p>‘Great. Have fun on your date,’ Damen said, tapping the papers. ‘Urgent.’</p><p>‘I’ll get right to it.’</p><p>While it was literally the barest courtesy not making Laurent reorganise a <em>third </em>date, it also felt like a massive improvement to how Damen had been acting towards him before.</p><p>It stayed on Laurent’s mind as he got ready for his date, showering and using the ridiculously expensive aftershave Auguste had gifted him on his last birthday. Despite it not being his fault, Laurent felt bad about having to reschedule so many times, and he wanted to make a good impression on Jord – maybe some unsaid comment about being worth waiting for. Something like that.</p><p>He even arrived early at the restaurant, waiting at the bar with a very weak rum and coke and watching the door for Jord’s arrival. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting until Laurent checked the time on his phone, and it was half an hour later than Jord said he’d be.</p><p><em>Ah. </em>Laurent sighed, slipped off his stool and drained his drink, then called the office. Damen’s office, specifically.</p><p>‘Two Kings, Damianos,’ Damen answered. There was the sound of typing in the background.</p><p>‘So you’re still at the office,’ Laurent said, forgoing greetings. ‘What do you want for dinner?’</p><p>‘Dinner?’ Damen asked. ‘What time is it?’</p><p>‘Half past eight.’</p><p>Damen made a considering noise like he’d frowned. ‘Aren’t you on a date?’</p><p>‘He stood me up,’ Laurent sighed. ‘Which is fair enough, I’ve done the same to him.’</p><p>‘His loss. Are you sure you want to come in?’</p><p>‘Yeah, saves us doing it tomorrow, especially if you’re there already.’</p><p>‘Okay,’ Damen said after a moment of hesitation. ‘I suppose. You can pick up whatever, you know what I like.’</p><p>Laurent hummed as he walked past a shop with the smell of something delicious wafting out of it. He paused and looked up to the sign. ‘Kebab?’</p><p>‘Sounds good. See you in a bit,’ Damen said, disconnecting.</p><p>‘See you in a bit,’ Laurent replied softly, with only the empty dial tone to hear him.</p><p>***</p><p>Laurent knocked on the door to Damen’s office, jerking his head towards the conference rooms when the man inside looked up.</p><p>‘I hadn’t realised the time,’ Damen said, as he pushed open the door to the conference room and watched Laurent unpack their food. His eyes quickly scanned over Laurent and back up to his face. ‘You look good.’</p><p>Laurent huffed and tucked a bit of loose hair behind his ear. ‘Yeah, I was all dressed up with nowhere to go, so I decided the office was just the place.’</p><p>‘How did you know I would still be here?’ Damen asked, taking the chair behind the box marked <em>MIXED W/ ALL</em>.</p><p>‘Your girlfriend just left you and you don’t like going home to an empty apartment,’ Laurent said drily. ‘Yet you don’t mind being in an empty office.’</p><p>‘Probably because it’s supposed to be empty at this time of night,’ Damen tilted his head a little. ‘You got here very fast.’</p><p>‘I was just down the street.’ Laurent cracked open his own box of <em>CHICKEN W/ SALAD </em>and poked the cucumber. ‘The, uh, steakhouse I think.’</p><p>‘Right,’ Damen wrinkled his nose. ‘Yeah, I’ve been there. You’re not missing much.’</p><p>‘Oh. Well. I suppose that’s good.’</p><p>‘They do a good salmon, but good fish isn’t what you look for at a steakhouse, you know?’</p><p>‘Never really been one for fishy flavours personally,’ Laurent muttered.</p><p>Damen raised an eyebrow as he ripped off a piece of pita. ‘Is that a gay joke or just that you don’t like fish?’</p><p>‘Both. Always assume it’s both.’</p><p>‘Will do.’</p><p>‘What are we working on tonight?’ Laurent asked, as he and Damen dug into their food. ‘I don’t remember hearing about anything requiring urgent attention.’</p><p>Damen hummed around a mouth of meats and rice. ‘Do you want the truth?’ he asked after swallowing.</p><p>‘Preferably.’</p><p>Damen loaded up his next bit of pita with salad and meat, stacking it carefully before saying, ‘There’s nothing,’ and shoving the food into his mouth.</p><p>Laurent stared at him for a few moments. ‘There’s nothing? We don’t actually need to be here?’</p><p>‘No.’</p><p>Laurent groaned, leaning back in his chair and pushing his hands into his hair. ‘Then why the fuck <em>are</em> we here, Damen?’</p><p>Damen rolled his eyes and gestured at the office with his fork, mouth once again full of food. ‘What do you think?’</p><p>‘I think you’re obsessed with your job and are physically incapable of leaving this place for more than five minutes at a time.’</p><p>‘Hey, catch yourself there, buddy, I pay your wages.’</p><p>‘Sorry, I didn’t mean –’</p><p>‘I didn’t say you were wrong,’ Damen interrupted. ‘You actually already answered your own question.’</p><p>Laurent frowned and went back to the things he’d said in the ten minutes he’d been here. ‘Are you making excuses to be here because you don’t want to go home?’</p><p>Damen shrugged. ‘I don’t have much time to meet people and invest in dating, so it looks like I’ll be stuck here for the next while.’</p><p>‘Yeah, and dragging me down with you,’ Laurent said flatly. ‘All the hours you’re here, I’m here, so I don’t have much choice either.’</p><p>Damen glanced up to him. ‘You’re allowed to say <em>no</em> to me, you know.’</p><p>‘It doesn’t feel like it.’</p><p>‘Are you saying I’m not an approachable boss?’ Damen asked. His tone was joking, but his eyes were serious, and Laurent was a little apprehensive to answer.</p><p>‘Well…’</p><p>‘Laurent.’</p><p>‘A bit.’</p><p>‘I’m a bit approachable or a bit unapproachable?’</p><p>‘Both, I suppose. It depends.’</p><p>‘On?’</p><p>‘Well, right now you’re good, you’re fun and making jokes and clearly I have no problems with you right now –’ a streak of terror ran through Laurent as he realised his mouth was not going to shut up, ‘– but during regular hours, you’re a little terrifying. You’re like Jekyll and Hyde.’</p><p>‘Who am I now, Jekyll or Hyde?’</p><p>‘Have you read that book?’</p><p>‘Yes.’ Damen paused. ‘Oh.’</p><p>Laurent hummed and cleared his throat. ‘Uh, anyway –’</p><p>‘No, no, let’s talk about this for a moment – if you want?’</p><p>‘I mean, not really, but sure.’</p><p>‘Why am I unapproachable?’</p><p>Laurent let out a breath like he’d been punched in the stomach. ‘Wow, really going for it, huh?’</p><p>‘Rip off the band-aid.’</p><p>‘Is that advice or what you’re trying to accomplish?’</p><p>‘Both, apparently.’</p><p>‘Right,’ Laurent let out an undignified noise. ‘I’m not going to get fired?’</p><p>Damen rolled his eyes. ‘No. I just want to know what I’m doing that’s…’</p><p>‘Scary?’</p><p>‘Am I <em>scary</em>?’</p><p>‘I’m choosing not to answer that,’ Laurent said cheerfully. ‘You’re just… very intense. You have a way of talking that’s almost <em>too </em>commanding, so it kind of comes across as being an asshole.’</p><p>‘I’m an <em>asshole</em>?’ Damen looked horrified at the suggestion. ‘I didn’t know I… I’m sorry.’</p><p>‘I mean, I know you’re not always like that because you turn into <em>this </em>when no one else is here, but you’re not exactly nice when the office is full. Except for the last few days, I suppose.’</p><p>‘What do you mean <em>this</em>?’</p><p>Laurent gestured at Damen as a whole – the tzatziki in the corner of his mouth, his hair falling out over his shoulders, shirt a little rumpled. ‘Human.’</p><p>Damen looked down to his sleeves pushed haphazardly up his arms. ‘More approachable.’</p><p>‘Yeah.’</p><p>‘Hmm.’</p><p>‘I know you can’t always be at work like this, but you could be nicer, you know?’ Laurent said, pushing his food to one side of the box. ‘I like you like this.’</p><p>‘You like me?’ Damen repeated.</p><p>‘Yeah, you buy us dinner. You make jokes and don’t call me out when I accidentally fuck something up, like putting the pages in the wrong order. You’re just… <em>nice</em>.’</p><p>Damen bit his lip and sat back in his chair, idly shredding his last bit of pita. ‘You’re an excellent asset to this office, Laurent. I’m sorry if I haven’t made you feel like it.’</p><p>Laurent blinked in surprise. ‘Oh… thanks.’</p><p>‘We can go, if you want. Or you can go. I’ll probably stay here,’ Damen smiled ruefully. ‘Empty apartment will still be empty if I get back at midnight.’</p><p>‘Are you sure?’</p><p>Damen nodded. ‘Live your life a bit. One of us has got to.’</p><p>‘If you don’t have anything to do here, you should leave,’ Laurent said, closing the lid of his empty box and pushing it a little away from himself. ‘You can’t spend your life here. The building isn’t going to love you back.’</p><p>‘And where would I go? Home? To sit there alone and watch Netflix?’</p><p>‘I mean, that’s what <em>I’m </em>going to do.’</p><p>‘Really?’</p><p>‘Yeah? I deserve to mope for a bit, I got stood up on a date.’</p><p>‘Fair point. It’s his loss, don’t take it personally.’</p><p>Laurent laughed, standing from his chair and dropping his box in the trash. ‘It’s a bit hard not to take it personally.’</p><p>Damen looked him over for at least the third time, his eyes lingering over Laurent’s neck before they slid up to his face. ‘Well,’ Damen stood and brushed his hands down his shirt. ‘Maybe one day we should go out.’</p><p>‘What, together?’</p><p>‘Yeah, why not?’</p><p>‘You’re my boss?’</p><p>‘And?’</p><p>Laurent’s eyes went wide as his brain turned into static. ‘You’re my boss.’</p><p>‘And?’ Damen repeated. ‘We can be friends.’</p><p>‘What happened to a separation of work and personal lives?’</p><p>‘Clearly it didn’t work out, so maybe I should try something else. Make some friends.’</p><p>‘Right,’ Laurent muttered. ‘Yeah, sure, why not. You can’t be my wingman, though.’</p><p>‘Why not?’ Damen frowned. ‘I’m a great wingman.’</p><p>‘Yeah, except every single guy will want to take you home instead of me,’ Laurent sighed. ‘And I need to get laid.’</p><p>Damen blinked at him for a second. ‘Oh. Okay. I… yeah, sure. I didn’t mean that kind of going out, like I meant maybe catch a movie or hit an arcade or something, but yeah we can… go do that.’</p><p>Laurent felt himself flush bright red and he turned for the door quickly to hide it, pulling it open in a hurry as he called back over his shoulder, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m going home, see you tomorrow!’</p><p>‘Wait, Laurent!’ Damen called, even as Laurent walked as fast as he possibly could towards the lifts without actually looking like he was running from the situation.</p><p>‘No, thank you!’ Laurent said loudly, tapping his foot as he hit the call button repeatedly. <em>Come on, come on, come on.</em></p><p>‘Laurent,’ Damen said, arriving next to Laurent.</p><p>The fucking lift was still on the third floor, making it eight floors between Laurent and his escape. <em>Fuck, fuck, fuck. </em>‘No, I don’t want to talk about the very inappropriate comment I just made, I was drinking at the bar earlier, it should not have happened.’</p><p>‘Laurent –’</p><p>‘I totally did not mean to imply that we would hang out outside work and find respective dates to… fuck away our woes or whatever.’ Laurent paused, still staring at the metal of the elevator doors. ‘Okay, I totally did, but I misread the situation.’</p><p>‘<em>Laurent</em>,’ Damen interrupted. ‘Will you let me talk?’</p><p>‘No, preferably not. You talk too much,’ Laurent said in a rush. ‘You say things all the time and I never get to speak because you’re always giving me directions and I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t want you to either. We will go to a movie and then part ways and never speak of this again.’</p><p>‘What if I want to speak of it again?’</p><p>‘Too fucking bad,’ Laurent said, sighing in relief as the doors opened and he stepped inside. He turned around to see a strange look on Damen’s face, one Laurent hadn’t seen there before. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Damen.’</p><p>The expression folded, changing to something else – resignation, maybe. ‘Goodnight, Laurent,’ Damen said.</p><p>***</p><p>When he’d arrived back at his apartment, Laurent went directly to his room and shoved his face into a pillow, letting out a yell that probably would’ve been concerning if his apartment wasn’t so well soundproofed. Tonight was turning out to be a lot to process, and Laurent wasn’t sure he wanted to do that right now. Or ever, really.</p><p>He’d been stood up, had some weird little dinner date with his <em>boss </em>where he’d told him more or less exactly what he thought of him and his communication skills – which he still thought could get him fired, even if Damen said it wouldn’t – and then insinuated to that very same boss and he was attractive and also that he’d would like to get absolutely fucking <em>railed </em>without Damen getting in the way of it.</p><p>And then there was Damen himself, which was a whole other thing Laurent didn’t want to think about. He’d been that weird version of himself where he was nice and considerate – the way he always was when they worked into the small hours of the night, alone in the office – and he’d been nicer and nicer to Laurent over the past few days since he’d mentioned his harsh manner the first time. To really add to everything Laurent was thinking about, there was the way Damen had asked <em>what if I want to speak of it again? </em>when Laurent said he didn’t want to bring up the accidental proposition ever again, and that <em>look </em>on his face when Laurent turned around in the lift. And the way Damen kept looking at him while they ate, and the way he’d said <em>you look good </em>and oh <em>fuck</em>, Laurent didn’t want to be reading into everything like this.</p><p>Was this illegal?</p><p>Laurent rolled over onto his back, wiggling his phone out of his jacket and looking at the text on his screen.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Damianos V.:<br/>
</strong>Please don’t worry if you’re in trouble. You are</p><p> </p><p>Laurent’s stomach dropped to his knees. ‘Fuck,’ he muttered.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Damianos V.:<br/>
</strong>Not. You are not. We do need to talk, though.</p><p><strong>Me:<br/>
</strong>Not today. Not tomorrow. Preferably never.</p><p><strong>Damianos V.:<br/>
</strong>Where do you live? We need to have this conversation now, and in person.</p><p> </p><p>Laurent bit his lip, staring at his phone as the three dots popped up when Damen started typing again.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Damianos V.:<br/>
</strong>Please, Laurent. I don’t want things to be awkward. Let me come over, we can talk.</p><p><strong>Me:<br/>
</strong>You can stand in the hall.</p><p> </p><p>Laurent sent over his address. He knew Damen could look it up in his personnel file, and he <em>would </em>if Laurent didn’t offer it himself, so it was probably better to be ahead of the game.</p><p>He did, however, take off his jacket and shoes and let his hair out completely. He was at home, and if he was about to have an undoubtedly awkward conversation with his boss, then he was going to be comfortable, dammit.</p><p>He didn’t live too far from the office, so it didn’t take Damen long to get there, and he looked suspicious as Laurent opened the door. ‘Who lives here?’ he asked.</p><p>‘I do,’ Laurent said, like it should be fairly obvious. Which it was.</p><p>‘This is an expensive place, how do you afford this?’</p><p>‘My parents are rich.’</p><p>‘Your parents are rich? They bought you this place?’</p><p>‘No, I have a trust fund. My parents wanted me and my brother to at least experience the world a bit so I don’t get access to it until I’m thirty and I could only use it to get my apartment,’ Laurent paused for a moment. ‘And emergencies. Like buying my mother a birthday present and sending it by express international courier to The Hague.’</p><p>‘The Hague?’</p><p>‘She’s Dutch and a human rights lawyer. Did you come here just to interrogate me on my living arrangements or like, is there something else?’</p><p>‘Oh.’ Damen looked down the hall and back to Laurent. ‘Can I come in?’</p><p>‘No, this is going to be a short conversation. What do you want?’</p><p>‘I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me.’</p><p><em>Fucking… what? </em>‘What?’</p><p>‘I would very much like to go to bars and whatever with you,’ Damen said carefully. ‘But – seriously, can I come in?’</p><p>‘No.’ Laurent crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Continue.’</p><p>Damen rolled his eyes. ‘I want to go to bars with you, but I don’t want to go with the intention of helping you get laid. I… I want to be the one…’</p><p>‘Oh,’ Laurent said after a few moments, his voice soft. ‘You want to fuck me.’</p><p>‘You don’t need to be so crude.’</p><p>‘Wait, you said you wanted to go to movies with me – are you trying to <em>date </em>me?’</p><p>‘Apparently so,’ Damen tugged at the bottom of his suit jacket, looking to the left of Laurent’s head. ‘There are a lot of things…’</p><p>Laurent tilted his head as he watched Damen dither with his words. Objectively, Laurent found Damen <em>very </em>attractive – he always had – but his attitude had been a major hindrance in Laurent wanting to act on how appealing he found him. Now that Damen had officially outed himself as being the person he was after hours, Laurent had felt – and consequently ignored – his opinion of him shifting.</p><p>‘But,’ Laurent said softly. ‘You want to fuck me?’</p><p>Damen’s eyes landed back on him, studying his face again. He must’ve found what he was looking for, as he stepped in through Laurent’s door, closing it behind him. ‘I want to do a lot of things to you.’</p><p>Laurent felt his lips part of their own accord and something dark trickle through his blood at Damen’s words. <em>Fuck</em>, he was totally into him – his <em>boss</em> – but… God, if Laurent didn’t want to let him do those things he was thinking of. ‘Would HR take your balls for that?’</p><p>‘I hope not, I quite like my balls.’</p><p>Laurent laughed despite himself and the situation, which was becoming harder and harder to step out of by the second. ‘What if I want that?’</p><p>‘My balls?’ Damen asked, as Laurent took a couple of steps closer to him.</p><p>‘No, just… whatever you want to do to me,’ Laurent’s breath hitched as he took in the gleam of Damen’s eyes. ‘What if I want that?’</p><p>‘Do you?’</p><p>‘Do <em>you</em>?’</p><p>‘I think you’re gorgeous,’ Damen said softly, closing the distance with two more steps and placing his hands lightly on Laurent’s hips. ‘I’m sorry you think I’ve never been very nice to you. I didn’t know how to act around you, so my behaviour in the office… became that. Maybe as a defence mechanism, I don’t know. I’m sorry.’</p><p>‘I just thought you hated me.’</p><p>‘I never hated you. I hated that you made me afraid I’d cheat on my girlfriend.’</p><p>‘But now you don’t have a girlfriend.’</p><p>‘But now I don’t have a girlfriend,’ Damen agreed. ‘And I’m not afraid of you anymore.’</p><p>‘You were afraid of me?’</p><p>‘Just because of how I felt around you. But now I don’t know if I should act on it, or if we should pretend this never happened like you said.’</p><p>‘Why would we do that?’ Laurent asked. ‘We’re both consenting adults, we just happen to work together.’</p><p>‘Exactly. We have a perfectly fine working relationship,’ Damen said, sighing as he moved away and took his hands off Laurent’s hips. ‘And I don’t want to ruin it.’</p><p>Laurent stepped back into Damen’s space, grabbing his shirt and pulling his head down. ‘Fucking <em>ruin </em>it,’ he hissed, before pushing himself into Damen’s space and kissing him.</p><p>He could tell Damen was surprised, completely still against him, and for a moment Laurent thought he’d made a mistake, until Damen responded by opening his mouth. He lifted a hand to Laurent’s cheek and cradled his face gently, running a thumb over his jaw as he broke away and looked down at him, foreheads pressed together.</p><p>From the tiny distance between them, Damen studied Laurent for the smallest of moments, before he removed his hand and stepped back. ‘We can’t.’</p><p>‘What do you mean we can’t?’ Laurent demanded. ‘We’re both consenting adults, yes?’</p><p>‘Yes,’ Damen said, letting out a sharp breath. ‘But I can’t do this while we’re… in the position we are.’</p><p>‘You mean that I work for you.’</p><p>‘Yes. You asked if HR would take my balls and despite that I am also their boss, things against this are literally law.’</p><p>‘<em>Are</em> they though?’</p><p>‘I don’t know!’ Damen threw his hands up. ‘Your mother is a lawyer, ask her!’</p><p>Laurent narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Let me get this straight, then. You want me, I want you, but you’re going to let some middle-aged women in HR decide who you can and can’t fuck?’</p><p>‘Yes, because I own this company, you don’t, and there should really not be a <em>do as I say, not as I do </em>situation about fucking co-workers.’</p><p>‘You know just about everyone in the building is fucking each other?’ Laurent asked drily. ‘I can name five people Lazar has fucked on our floor alone.’</p><p>‘Shit, really?’</p><p>‘Yeah.’</p><p>‘Huh,’ Damen raised an eyebrow interestedly, before shaking himself out of it. ‘It’s not important. What’s important is that the owner and CEO can’t have a relationship with someone working for him in case it comes across as sexual favours.’</p><p>‘A relationship?’ Laurent repeated. ‘Damen, we’re just talking about your cock in my ass, not a ring and a dog.’</p><p>‘First off, it would not just be one dog, because it would need friends –’</p><p>‘Obviously.’</p><p>‘Obviously. But even if it was just a one-time thing, I’m not a great at one-time things with people I’m <em>wildly </em>attracted to. And you are one of those people I can’t have for just one night.’</p><p>‘How do you know?’</p><p>‘Laurent,’ Damen sighed. ‘Trust me on that.’</p><p>Laurent rolled his eyes. ‘Fuck, whatever. If this is going nowhere, you need to get out of my apartment.’</p><p>‘That’s fair,’ Damen nodded, heading for the door. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m sorry.’</p><p>‘Yeah.’</p><p>Damen paused at the door, looking back to Laurent. ‘There are other options,’ he said quietly.</p><p>‘Right now I don’t want to think about them,’ Laurent said, jerking his head to the door. ‘Let’s forget this ever happened. I’ll see you at work.’</p><p>Damen nodded. ‘Goodnight.’</p><p>‘Night.’ Laurent watched Damen pull the door shut behind himself and waited a few moments before going over and locking it. He rested his head against the door and took a deep breath, before simply muttering, <em>‘Fuck.’</em></p><p>***</p><p>‘Hey, Mama.’</p><p>‘Laurent, my darling, what is it?’ Hennike scooted closer to her desk, worry colouring her face merely at his tone. ‘Are you okay?’</p><p>‘I… Yeah, physically I’m fine.’ Laurent didn’t know why he’d called her. What had he expected from this conversation?</p><p>‘Okay… What about mentally, then?’</p><p>‘Also fine.’</p><p>Hennike frowned. ‘Have you got into your trust fund and burned through it? Laurent, that was a <em>lot </em>of money.’</p><p>‘No, trust fund is fine and secure as ever,’ Laurent rubbed his hands over his eyes. God, he was tired.</p><p>‘You should get some sleep.’</p><p>‘<em>I </em>should get some sleep? It’s at least two in the morning for you. You go to sleep.’</p><p>‘You called me, I answered.’</p><p>‘Were you asleep? I’m sorry if –’</p><p>‘I wasn’t sleeping,’ Hennike smiled. ‘I have a big case I’m working on. Tell me what’s on your mind.’</p><p>‘Nothing is really…’ Laurent sat back against his headboard and looked towards his windows. The curtains were still open, and the lights of the city glittered in the dark. ‘I think I fucked up.’</p><p>‘What did you do?’ Hennike leaned forward, the gentle click of her pen hitting the desk as she gave her full attention to Laurent. ‘Are you in trouble?’</p><p>‘I don’t… I don’t know.’</p><p>‘Start at the beginning.’</p><p>‘It’s not a very long story,’ Laurent sighed, looking back to his screen. ‘I nearly… you know. With my boss.’</p><p>Hennike raised her eyebrows. ‘Okay, well… Was it mutual?’</p><p>‘Yeah, but he’s my boss, and that’s what held him back. I didn’t even realise I liked him like that until he turned up on my doorstep to say it, and then I couldn’t have him.’</p><p>‘I don’t know what you want me to say here, darling,’ Hennike said gently. ‘He’s right that it’s unethical, but you’re also right to be feeling hurt if he told you he liked you as well, then took it back just as fast.’</p><p>‘He did. I kissed him and he kissed me back, and now… I think I’ve ruined everything.’</p><p>‘I don’t know if you’ve ruined <em>everything</em>. There might be something you can salvage.’</p><p>‘Like what? A professional relationship with my boss?’</p><p>Hennike shrugged. ‘You can either forget what happened today, or you can learn from it.’</p><p>‘Learn from it how? I don’t have many options.’</p><p>‘Darling, you have <em>so </em>many options. If you really want him and he wants you, then there’s a way you can do that.’</p><p>‘You think I should quit my job so I can fuck my boss?’ Laurent asked.</p><p>Hennike pursed her lips in disapproval. ‘I wish you wouldn’t talk like that.’</p><p>‘Sorry, Mama.’</p><p>‘You could quit your job, that would be easier. You could also make him an offer he can’t refuse.’</p><p>Laurent blinked. ‘I didn’t know we were in the mafia.’</p><p>‘Oh – <em>Laurent</em>, don’t sass me. You have access to a trust fund, and his main issue is that he owns the company.’</p><p>‘Yes, we’ve established that.’</p><p>‘What if he didn’t?’</p><p>Laurent frowned as he processed what she was saying. ‘I don’t know if I’m desperate enough for that,’ he said slowly.</p><p>‘I’m not saying spend the entire fund. Maybe just part. A more equal footing.’</p><p>‘Okay, let’s put it this way. I don’t know if I’m invested enough in my job to buy part of the company.’</p><p>Hennike shrugged. ‘Then I suppose that leaves you with only two ethical options.’</p><p>‘Shut up or quit.’</p><p>‘Exactly.’</p><p>***</p><p>Laurent had been tempted to call in sick. He simply did <em>not </em>want to face Damen today, but he knew if he faked a cold, he would be read for filth and Damen would probably come to his apartment to pry him bodily from the bed.</p><p>So here he was, arriving at work, with Lazar walking towards him faster than Laurent had ever seen.</p><p>‘Damianos is in a mood,’ Lazar whispered, as Laurent hoisted his bag further up his shoulder.</p><p>‘What?’ Laurent asked, his eyes sliding to Damen’s office ahead. It looked quiet in there.</p><p>‘He’s yelling at everyone for no reason,’ Lazar frowned. ‘Or like, there are reasons, but usually he politely corrects?’</p><p>‘What did you do?’</p><p>‘I was checking my emails.’</p><p>‘Is that it?’</p><p>‘I mean, I was checking my <em>personal </em>emails, and Pallas had sent me a picture of his –’</p><p>‘Wow,’ Laurent interrupted. ‘That sounds like a valid reason to yell at you, actually.’</p><p>Lazar shrugged. ‘I mean, maybe, but it wasn’t very nice.’</p><p>‘I think you’re just trying to start drama,’ Laurent said, pausing as they reached Lazar’s desk. ‘But thanks for the heads up.’</p><p>Lazar hummed, taking his seat and sliding under his desk. ‘Guess we’ll see.’</p><p>Laurent had barely hit the seat at his desk when Damen appeared at his shoulder.</p><p>‘I need you to deal with these,’ Damen said, dropping a stack of paper at his elbow.</p><p>Laurent blinked at it and slowly shifted his gaze up to Damen. ‘Is there going to be a <em>please </em>in there? Maybe a <em>good morning</em>, even?’</p><p>‘Good morning. Please deal with these,’ he said, turning on his heel and disappearing back into his office, the door closing with a gentle <em>thud</em>.</p><p>Laurent ground his teeth and stood to follow him. They weren’t going to make this weird, and they sure as <em>hell </em>weren’t reverting back to Laurent thinking Damen hated him – except maybe now he did. He waited for the door to close behind him before he started talking, because he didn’t think the rest of the office needed to know about this, but unfortunately, that gave Damen an excuse to think he needed to speak first.</p><p>‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘Something wrong with the work I assigned you?’</p><p>‘No,’ Laurent said, going behind a chair and resting his hands on the top of it. ‘The thing is, I know you like me, and I know you’re not actually an asshole, so could we <em>not </em>go back to that?’</p><p>Damen raised an eyebrow. ‘You said you wanted to pretend like last night never happened.’</p><p>Laurent rolled his eyes. ‘It was one kiss, we don’t need to regress this far back over a kiss. If you don’t want me, just fucking say it. We’re both adults, and I, at least, can handle it.’</p><p>Damen carefully set his pen on his desk and folded his hands together, as he set his jaw and watched Laurent. ‘No.’</p><p>‘Excuse me?’</p><p>‘No.’</p><p>‘No what?’</p><p>‘I won’t tell you that.’</p><p>‘Then what do you want from me?’</p><p>‘I want,’ Damen stood, keeping his palms flat on his desk as he leaned over it, ‘you to do your work.’</p><p>‘Great,’ Laurent said flatly. ‘Anything else related to what I just said?’</p><p>‘Laurent, you know exactly what I want from you, and you also know I can’t have it.’</p><p>‘Are you the only one who gets to decide?’</p><p>‘I’m your boss, so yes. I am.’</p><p>‘We’re not doing a power-play thing,’ Laurent hissed. ‘What needs to happen here?’</p><p>‘I want to work you open on my desk behind that line of frosted glass,’ Damen said, standing straight and looking out to the office. ‘I want to fuck you and send you back out with my come dripping down your legs under your slacks, so I can watch you squirm at your desk.’</p><p>‘I asked what <em>needs </em>to happen.’</p><p>‘And I told you,’ Damen murmured. ‘In order for that to happen, there’s either going to be a complicated discussion with HR or a resignation letter on my desk.’</p><p>‘Or nothing happens, and you go back to being nice to me like I asked?’ Laurent suggested. ‘Because neither of those sound like great options to me.’</p><p>‘You just want me to be nice to you?’</p><p>‘Until I decide if I want to tell the nice HR ladies <em>just</em> how much I want you to fuck me over a desk, yes. Just be nice.’</p><p>Damen took a deep breath and waved towards the door. ‘I’ll be nice. I’m sorry if I was a little too… harsh.’</p><p>‘I know. Did you still need to work late tonight?’</p><p>‘We both know I’m only doing it so I don’t have to go home.’</p><p>‘Is that a no?’</p><p>‘That’s an <em>I’ll think about it</em>.’</p><p>‘Okay,’ Laurent nodded. ‘You know where to find me.’</p><p>Damen said nothing as he moved back in to work on his computer, ignoring Laurent as he went back to his own.</p><p><em>Fucking Damen. </em>Laurent had never come into work only to be slapped with anger like this. Damen could be a very anger inducing man at times, but Laurent had been here for <em>two minutes</em>. They’d well and truly established their… well. Not exactly <em>feelings</em>, even if lust was a feeling. They’d established their <em>wants</em>, and they weren’t going to do anything about it without involving at least one other unwilling participant.</p><p>Laurent could of course just quit.</p><p>Auguste would likely welcome the decision with open arms and give him a job until he could find something he actually <em>wanted </em>to do. He’d been saying he wanted an assistant, but Laurent didn’t want to give his brother that sort of ammunition against him.</p><p>Or Laurent could just be at home and do nothing. That sounded like a good option too, but he knew he’d get <em>very </em>bored, <em>very </em>fast.</p><p>Which left Laurent here. At work, being blue-balled by his boss who was intent on doing things by the book. Honestly.</p><p>Or Laurent could buy part of the company and put them on equal footing, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to invest that much of his trust fund in this place.</p><p>For fuck’s sake. Laurent had been sitting at his desk for like, thirty seconds at this point. And yet, he pushed his chair back and went straight back into Damen’s office. ‘You know what?’ he said, before Damen could make another annoying remark. ‘I hate this.’</p><p>Damen leaned back into his chair and folded his arms over his chest. <em>Ugh</em>, it was too early in the morning to be staring his fucking biceps in the face. ‘Hate what?’ he asked.</p><p>‘This,’ Laurent said, gesturing between them. ‘You said you didn’t want to ruin our relationship? You’ve fucking done it anyway. By opening your mouth last night and saying you wanted me, you pushed us past the point of no return, because now it’s all I can think about.’</p><p>‘Is it?’ Damen asked interestedly.</p><p>‘Yes! You’re dangling yourself like a fucking <em>carrot </em>in front of me, all while saying I can’t have you no matter what.’</p><p>‘Isn’t that the nature of a dangling carrot?’</p><p>‘Damen, I swear on all that’s holy, don’t make this into a joke,’ Laurent hissed. ‘You’ve fucked things up now, so what are you going to do about it?’</p><p>‘We could go down to HR.’</p><p>‘I don’t want to go to HR. You’ve made no secret of being very morally opposed to the whole thing, even if HR is involved, so that’s not an option. I don’t really want to buy half of your company like my mother suggested –’</p><p>‘What?’</p><p>‘– which basically leaves it that if I want to fuck you, I have to quit my job,’ Laurent finished, ignoring Damen’s interruption. ‘You made this situation, and it’s down to me to deal with it, like always.’</p><p>‘Laurent,’ Damen said calmly. ‘You should really lower your voice, there are people watching outside.’</p><p>Laurent ground his teeth and whipped around to glare at the people observing them. They dispersed quickly, and Laurent rounded back on Damen. ‘You always leave me to clean up your messes – staying late to work on projects and presentations, getting your lunch and your fucking dry-cleaning. I’m too qualified to be your assistant, let alone your <em>lackey</em>, and now you’re leaving me to deal with the fact that you want to <em>fuck </em>me.’</p><p>‘My lackey?’ Damen asked, rising from his chair. ‘Wow, you’re really getting it all out today, huh?’</p><p>‘I’m sick of this shit, Damen!’</p><p>‘I know.’</p><p>‘And yet, you’re still dumping more crap on me!’</p><p>‘I know.’</p><p>Laurent took a deep breath and clenched his hands at his sides for a moment. ‘You know what? I quit.’</p><p>‘What?’</p><p>‘I quit. It solves every single problem. I don’t have to deal with your crap, and we can fuck in peace.’</p><p>Damen tilted his head curiously. ‘You’ve spent the last few minutes yelling at me about how terrible of a person I am, and you still want to fuck me?’</p><p>‘You’re a terrible <em>boss</em>, not a terrible person. And yes, obviously I do, or I would’ve filed for sexual harassment.’</p><p>‘You still could.’</p><p>‘Except I don’t work here anymore.’</p><p>Damen pursed his lips. ‘Fine. Are you giving two weeks or leaving immediately?’</p><p>‘Immediately.’</p><p>‘Great, I’ll be by your apartment at seven.’</p><p>‘I look forward to it.’</p><p>‘Shall I bring dinner?’</p><p>‘I’ll cook.’</p><p>‘And you don’t drink, so I suppose I’ll just bring myself and edible body paint.’</p><p>With that, every bit of fight left Laurent’s body, and he laughed. ‘I like strawberry.’</p><p>‘I know,’ Damen smiled. ‘You always get a strawberry cheesecake from that place we order salads from.’</p><p>Laurent smiled back. ‘Seven, then?’</p><p>‘Do you want to work to the end of the day?’</p><p>‘I was kind of hoping to leave really dramatically,’ Laurent admitted.</p><p>‘Right. I’ll permit one loud expletive as you leave my office.’</p><p>‘Thanks,’ Laurent winked, heading for the door and taking a moment to gather himself back into his angry headspace before he yanked the door open and yelled, ‘Get <em>fucked</em>, Damianos!’</p><p>Granted, the soft closing of the door really ruined the effect, but it got him the attention he wanted as he went back to his desk and started gathering his stuff and putting it into his backpack. Shit, he’d really just quit for dick, huh? Oops.</p><p>And now he’d have to call Auguste and ask for a temporary job, which was more of a hassle than he really wanted today but –</p><p>‘What happened?’ Lazar asked, popping up in front of Laurent’s desk. ‘I’ve never heard you swear before.’</p><p>‘He’s just – he’s an asshole, and I’m sick of putting up with it,’ Laurent muttered. ‘Someone else can deal with his crap at work.’</p><p>‘Fair enough,’ Lazar clapped him on the shoulder. ‘You’re braver than most, yelling at him like that.’</p><p>‘Don’t have much left to lose,’ Laurent said, putting the last of his desk things in his bag and pulling the zip closed. ‘Anyway, I’m going home. I’ll see you around.’</p><p>‘Yeah, for sure,’ Lazar nodded. ‘Bye, Laurent.’</p><p>Laurent nodded and swung his bag over his shoulder. ‘Bye,’ he said, heading past the cubicles to the elevator. He was going home to watch Netflix, and maybe call his brother around lunch. He knew Auguste would have questions, and he didn’t know if he had the willpower to face them before midday.</p><p>***</p><p>‘For what it’s worth, I really am sorry.’</p><p>Laurent looked over to where Damen was sprawled in the corner of his couch. They were watching something mindless on Netflix while they digested a bit – Laurent had gone a bit overboard and prepared an appetizer and dessert as well as dinner, of which Damen had eaten every single crumb – and it was very quiet. Peaceful.</p><p>Damen looked right on his couch, in his apartment in clothes that weren’t a suit, like he blended right in and it was just <em>right</em>, and he’d definitely also just said something else, if the expectant look on his face was anything to go by.</p><p>‘Sorry, what?’ Laurent asked.</p><p>‘I said, I’m sorry for always being a dick and… then being a dick again and putting you in this position. I know that in itself was a bit of a power play, and this entire situation is just stupid.’</p><p>‘Oh,’ Laurent put his drink on the table and turned towards Damen, twisting his body on the couch and resting one arm along the back cushions. ‘Yeah, it’s all just been shit.’</p><p>‘I know it’s my fault.’</p><p>‘Good, because it is.’</p><p>Damen hummed. ‘Is this weird? Like, have I ruined your life?’</p><p>Laurent laughed. ‘Do <em>you</em> think you have?’</p><p>‘Maybe a little? You don’t have a job anymore.’</p><p>‘I do, actually. My brother’s given me a job as his assistant until I find something permanent. Or until I age up and get access to my trust fund.’</p><p>‘Right,’ Damen nodded. ‘I forgot about that.’</p><p>‘You’re literally in my very expensive apartment right now. It’s hard to forget.’</p><p>‘Well, I still feel responsible for this upheaval in your life.’</p><p>‘Like I said, you should. It’s your fault.’</p><p>‘I’m sorry.’</p><p>‘Stop apologising. Just don’t fuck everything up and make me regret it.’</p><p>‘I’ll try,’ Damen agreed.</p><p>‘Good,’ Laurent said, drumming his fingers on the couch for a moment. ‘Can I ask you something?’</p><p>‘Mm?’</p><p>‘You said you didn’t think you’d be able to have me just once. Did you mean it?’</p><p>‘I… yeah,’ Damen shrugged. ‘I don’t think I could ever get tired of looking at you, Laurent. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have you underneath me, or just <em>around</em> me every day. I enjoy being in your company, so adding in sex and intimacy to that can only make it so much better.’</p><p>‘You enjoy my company?’ Laurent laughed. ‘Could’ve fooled me.’</p><p>‘Yeah, I had appearances to keep up,’ Damen said drily. ‘I’m actually a very affectionate person, so you probably won’t get rid of me easily.’</p><p>‘If I wanted to get rid of you, I probably wouldn’t have quit my job just to fuck you.’</p><p>‘That sounds about right, yeah.’ Damen moved closer on the couch, twisting their fingers together. ‘Speaking of…’</p><p>Laurent raised an eyebrow. ‘That wasn’t very smooth.’</p><p>‘Yeah, no, it really wasn’t.’</p><p>‘But while I know this has been a whole thing, I kind of just want to hang out for a bit. Maybe make out a little, but no sex tonight, I think.’</p><p>Damen breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Okay, great, today has been a lot as it is.’</p><p>‘You can stay over, though, if you want.’</p><p>‘Yeah,’ Damen nodded. ‘I’d like that.’</p><p>***</p><p>The first thing Laurent noticed when he woke up was the feel of an arm over his waist, and for a moment, alarm bells sounded in his head. They stopped entirely at the warm huff of air against the back of his neck and the tightening of a hand in his own. He glanced back over his shoulder to see the curls of Damen on his spare pillow, as the man attached to them pushed his face further into his skin.</p><p>They hadn’t done anything last night, as agreed, but Damen had stayed over, and had gone to bed in just his boxers and – <em>oh </em>– it was coming back to him now. Laurent had stopped breathing for a good few seconds at the sight of Damen in boxer briefs and nothing else. His tanned skin and <em>godlike </em>body entering his bed and making Laurent feel so pale and gangly in comparison. He had the briefest thought as Damen pulled the covers over them that maybe it had actually been worth quitting his job just for this moment.</p><p>There had been a few mumbled bits of conversation, a couple of chaste kisses against collarbones and temples, but they’d both been worn out by the events of the day and fell asleep quickly. They hadn’t woken until now – or Laurent hadn’t, at least – but there was a gentle orange glow coming through his curtains, and Laurent was faced with the spreading of dull sunlight over Damen’s sleeping face.</p><p>It made him stop breathing again.</p><p>‘I’m awake,’ Damen murmured, cracking an eye slowly. ‘Barely.’</p><p>Laurent shifted to face Damen and pushed the hair from his face, almost reflexively, like he’d done it a hundred times before. The simple gesture caught him by surprise, and he looked quickly back to Damen to see if he’d crossed a line.</p><p>Damen didn’t mention it. ‘I haven’t slept this well in years.’</p><p>‘Really?’ Laurent asked, his voice feeling far too loud for this moment.</p><p>‘Mhmm,’ Damen moved a little, trailing his hand up Laurent’s waist. ‘Did you sleep well?’</p><p>‘I did. It was…’ Laurent looked for a word to encompass what he was feeling right now. Peaceful? Grounding? Perfect? <em>Right? </em>‘Nice.’</p><p>‘Nice,’ Damen chuckled, pushing himself up on his other elbow. ‘Your hair is messier than I’ve ever seen it.’</p><p>Laurent sighed, not bothering trying to flatten what was probably a veritable bird’s nest. ‘You’ve never seen me before I get a hairbrush through it.’</p><p>‘No, I haven’t,’ Damen smiled as he reached up to touch it. ‘Your hair is so soft.’</p><p>‘It should be for what I pay for my conditioner.’</p><p>Damen kept carding his fingers gently through Laurent’s hair – probably combing it out – until he eventually said, ‘Do you regret it?’</p><p>Laurent regretted many things in his life, but he knew what Damen was referring to and answered honestly. ‘No.’</p><p>‘Really?’</p><p>‘Not right now. That might change, or it might not, but right now… no. Do you?’</p><p>Damen flicked his eyes to Laurent and drew his hand away. ‘No. My only regret is that you had to quit to appease my morals.’</p><p>‘You’ll probably need to get over that at some point.’</p><p>‘Probably,’ Damen agreed.</p><p>‘Would it make you feel better if I said I was going to quit soon anyway?’</p><p>‘Were you?’</p><p>‘It doesn’t matter, but would it help?’</p><p>‘A bit, yes.’</p><p>‘Then I was planning to quit soon,’ Laurent announced. ‘You’re actually quite annoying to work for.’</p><p>‘Yes,’ Damen said flatly. ‘You made that quite clear.’</p><p>‘But it’s okay, because I don’t work for you anymore, and do you know what that means?’</p><p>‘That I need to train someone else to work your position as efficiently?’</p><p>Laurent hummed. ‘Well, yes, but no.’</p><p>‘Does it mean we can have dinner outside the office?’</p><p>‘I hope so, but that’s still not what I’m getting at.’</p><p>Damen tapped his chin in a show of thoughtfulness and raised an eyebrow. ‘Does it mean,’ he said, grabbing Laurent’s wrist and using it as leverage to push him onto his back, now hovering over him, ‘that I can do all those things I was thinking of?’</p><p>Laurent flexed his fingers and adjusted his head on the pillow as he looked to Damen above him. ‘That’s exactly what it means. I suggest you start now.’</p><p>‘Now?’</p><p>‘No time like the present.’</p><p>Damen grinned ferally and released Laurent’s hands, wrapping one arm under his hips and hoisting him up to slip the band of his pyjama shorts down. ‘No time like the present,’ he agreed.</p><p>Laurent bit his lip as Damen’s hand slid down the small of his back. ‘Are you regretting it yet?’ he asked, breath hitching as a finger slipped into the cleft of his ass.</p><p>‘I’m not regretting anything at this moment,’ Damen murmured, pushing up Laurent’s shirt to place kisses across his chest.</p><p>‘Not even that if I hadn’t quit, we could’ve done this at your desk?’ Laurent laughed a little as Damen paused. ‘Behind that panel of frosted glass, while we tested the soundproofing of your office?’</p><p>‘I never realised what a little shit you are,’ Damen muttered, pushing a finger against Laurent’s rim.</p><p>‘I’m going into overdrive, I’ve got time to make up for.’</p><p>‘I might have to figure out a way to make you stop talking.’</p><p>‘That’s not possible,’ Laurent said, twisting his fingers into Damen’s hair, as his mouth slid further down. ‘But you’re welcome to try.’</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>damen/jokaste spoiler: she literally only appears to be broken up with - the title's a bit on the nose here, bc it causes a chain reaction (lmao)</p><p><i>edit:</i> now i can un-anon myself (finally lol) my socials, as usual~ <a href="http://twitter.com/daamiaanos">twitter</a> and <a href="http://damiaanos.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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